Testing of tracking algorithms under airborne turbulence

Paul H. Merritt; Richard L. Brunson; Rastislav Telgarsky

doi:10.1117/12.356962

3 August 1999 Testing of tracking algorithms under airborne turbulence

Paul H. Merritt, Richard L. Brunson, Rastislav Telgarsky

Proceedings Volume 3706, Airborne Laser Advanced Technology II; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.356962
Event: AeroSense '99, 1999, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

Tracking through a turbulent atmosphere has several challenges. If the target is extended, such as a large target being illuminated with laser energy from the tracking aperture, the problems of scintillation and anisoplanatism cause significant concerns. The 'blotches' caused by scintillation can be interpreted by the tracking algorithms as tilt and incorrectly applied to the steering mirror. Similarly, anisoplanatism imparts tilt components from separated points, that may be independent, and not act as coherent tilt that is possible to correct with one mirror. The authors have been involved in a study that compares the performance of 14 different tracking algorithms under scintillated conditions. Image data, available from Lincoln Laboratory, has been used to calculate tilt from the different algorithms and do comparisons using Power Spectral Density analysis. The results show that different algorithms have significantly different performance characteristics.

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Paul H. Merritt, Richard L. Brunson, and Rastislav Telgarsky "Testing of tracking algorithms under airborne turbulence", Proc. SPIE 3706, Airborne Laser Advanced Technology II, (3 August 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.356962

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KEYWORDS

Detection and tracking algorithms

Scintillation

Algorithm development

Airborne laser technology

Atmospheric scintillation

Sensors

Mirrors

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